Naspers to be mobile powerhouse

Companies / 9 July 2014, 5:33pm

Reuters

Cape Town - South Africa's Naspers aims to transform itself into a “predominantly mobile” company, its new chief executive said on Wednesday, as it looks to bring its stable of e-commerce and auction sites to tablets and smartphones.

Naspers, Africa's most valuable company, will also continue to target e-commerce firms for future acquisitions, Bob van Dijk told Reuters in an interview.

“We will be more of an operator in the Internet than we have been ... the most exciting part is adjusting ourselves to be predominantly a mobile company,” he said.

“It's really hard to comment on future M&A, but I think focus-wise, e-commerce will be very important for us.”

Van Dijk took over the $52 billion firm in April, succeeding Koos Bekker who stepped down after 17 years of explosive growth that turned the Cape Town-based Naspers into one of the world's most valuable media and internet firms. - Reuters